John Raitt

Though in his later years he joked that he had become best known as singer Bonnie Raitt's father, John Raitt enjoyed his own long trajectory through stardom as the tall, robust baritone at the center...
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Folk legend Bob Dylan will be presented with the 2015 MusiCares Person of the Year honour from former U.S. president Jimmy Carter after receiving musical tributes from Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson and Jack White. The Lay Lady Lay hitmaker will be honoured at the Recording Academy's 25th annual benefit gala dinner and concert on 6 February (15), and a host of stars have lined up to celebrate Dylan's career.
Joining Springsteen, Nelson and White will be Crosby, Stills & Nash, Tom Jones, John Mellencamp, Eddie Vedder, Neil Young, Beck, the Black Keys, Los Lobos, Bonnie Raitt, Norah Jones and singer/songwriter John Doe.
President Carter will close out the night by personally saluting the veteran.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the MusiCares organisation, which provides financial and medical aid to musicians in need.
Previous MusiCares Person of the Year honourees include Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Bono, Tony Bennett and Carole King, who received the accolade last year (14).

Rocker Dave Grohl's hit TV documentary series Sonic Highways will end with an interview staged between the Foo Fighters rocker and President Barack Obama. Grohl recorded the chat at the White House on what he claims was "a heavy day" for the U.S. leader, but he was thrilled when Obama agreed to extend their time together, and loosen up.
The Everlong singer, who first met Obama when he performed as part of a Paul McCartney tribute in 2010, tells Rolling Stone, "It was a heavy day for him. We were going back into Iraq. This was the last thing of his day... (but he) loosened his tie and got into it.
"I talked to him for a specific reason... I wanted to talk to Obama about America as a country where the opportunity to follow your dreams is real, from Buddy Guy and his guitar made from his screen porch to a kid from Springfield, Virginia, who winds up in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (Grohl) to a kid from Hawaii becoming the first African-American president."
Grohl also interviewed musicians like Dr. John, Billy Gibbons, Bonnie Raitt, Dolly Parton and Carrie Underwood for his new TV project, which serves as an educational overview of the musical history of U.S. cities like New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Seattle.

The Doors drummer John Densmore felt like "a terrorist" as he attempted to stop his former bandmates from cashing in on the name of the band and signing a lucrative ad deal with Cadillac - because their lawyers attempted to paint him as un-American in court. The rocker teamed up with late frontman Jim Morrison's family to launch a legal war against Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek as they hit the road with Stewart Copeland and The Cult's Ian Astbury as The Doors of the 21st Century a decade ago.
Densmore also wanted to prevent the duo from signing a deal with Cadillac, which would allow bosses at the car firm to use the group's music in commercials, after recalling Morrison's opposition to a similar deal with Buick in the late 1960s.
Krieger and Manzarek countersued, claiming their old bandmate and Morrison's estate were preventing them from making a living as musicians.
Densmore has just released a book, titled Unhinged, about the ugly trial, and he admits he's still sore about the way he was portrayed in court.
He tells RollingStone.com, "They tried to convince the jury I was an eco-terrorist because I am involved with a handful of peaceful, credible environmental organisations.
"I couldn't believe some of things I heard them say. I felt betrayed, hurt and very alone... Now, you can probably Google my name and al Qaeda will come up... It was really disturbing."
But Densmore had his celebrity supporters throughout the ordeal - Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Tom Waits and Randy Newman all defended the drummer's actions, and Eddie Vedder has offered a few choice words about The Doors star's new book, writing, "Though it's something I don't like to think about, there will come a time when I will be a Dead Rock Star. I can only hope that in my inevitable absence there will be someone with the integrity and principled behavior of Mr. Densmore looking after whatever legacy our group may leave behind."

S10E5: I’d like to start off by saying thank goodness last night’s Austin auditions episode was only an hour because holy crap was it a snooze. Steven Tyler was behaving, Randy was unimaginatively mean to the contestants, and there were only a handful of crazy people to offset the slew of decent singers. If I wasn’t so concerned with trying to make early bets about who will fail or succeed once the contestants reach Hollywood, I would’ve turned off last night’s episode, put on some re-runs of The Office and knit a sweater for my dog. That’s right, you heard it here first: last night’s Idol was less exciting than KNITTING.
“Do you know what rhymes with ‘Muck?’” –Steven
“Duck?” –Contestant
“Read my lips…(he mouths ‘fuck’).” –Steven
Apparently this little gem is a source of intense controversy because this week the show opened with a black screen with a message stating that Steven has apologized for his outrageous and inappropriate comments before giving us a glimpse of the crime. First of all, this was frankly not that bad. Second, I don’t know how much of a serious apology it was when they put that cheesy elevator music in the background. Whether or not they took the opening seriously, it seemed throughout the episode that Steven had indeed found himself a chill pill because the ridiculousness that I’ve come to expect by the fifth episode was completely gone last night. It may have been inappropriate, but it was entertaining and I want it back.
“My whole life I’ve been told I have a JLo booty.” –Contestant
First up this week were two people who were actually pretty good singers. They were boring, but they could sing.
Corey Levoy told his story about growing up 15 minutes away from his biological sister for years before ever meeting her. He brought his best friend and sister to the audition and she sat alongside the judges while he sang one of my favorite Bonnie Raitt song, “I Can’t Make You Love Me.” The kid has a decent singing voice, but did anyone else notice that he had a very lady-like quality to his voice? If he makes it through, it will be interesting to see how he takes on the weekly challenges of the actual competition. That being said, his voice may not be strong enough to get all the way through, but then again that Tim kid made it up through the ranks and he COULD NOT SING.
Next came young Hollie Cavanagh, who moved from Liverpool, England to Texas with her parents. She made a delusional attempt to sing one of the hardest songs out there, “At Last” by Etta James. Because she, and almost every other person ever, doesn’t have the pipes for the tune, she jumped back and forth between keys making for a disjointed melody. Randy turned her down, so of course she pulled out the waterworks. THIS IS BECOMING A PATTERN and I don’t approve. Then suddenly, the producers discovered a technique that every other reality show ever has used: the commercial break to create suspense out of thin air. Too bad we already knew what would happen. She got another chance to sing an easier song and they all changed their tunes and sent her to Hollywood. Whoopdie-frickin’-doo.
“The singing, honestly, was terrible.” –Randy
“So it’s a no?” –Contestant
No, Rodolfo Ochoa, your singing was terrible, so welcome to Hollywood! NO. Use your brain please. Rodolfo was the tail end of a montage of failed contestants crying and saying they’ve failed their friends and family – or “everyone” if they’re really dramatic – and he attempted to sing “Circle of Life,” but he sounded like he needed to be put out of his misery. Even so, we’ve seen way worse on Idol; like I said, this episode lacked a punch.
“Completely and utterly heterosexual; just wanna put that out there.” – Cowboy contestant
Being that the auditions were taking place in Texas, we had to endure a montage of over the top cowboys who couldn’t carry a tune if the fate of their horses depended on it. Out of this buncha wailers, came John Wayne (Shulz). He’s beautiful and he’s doing Idol for his mother who’s recovering from breast cancer. And the cherry on top? He’s legitimately a good singer. Obviously they call in his mother to witness the moment he gets sent to Hollywood and she cries. Wait, isn’t this type of thing supposed to come at the end of the episode? Look at you, American Idol. Shaking it up. You crazy.
It may seem like Schulz has some sort of deal with the devil, but TMZ uncovered his dirty little secret: he's actually already a professional recording artist. Whoops. Apparently his record deal hit the skids when he had to leave for two years to do his mission for his Mormon church, so his participation with Idol is a-okay, but at least he's not as perfect as the show made him seem. And the world makes sense again.
“Ryan Seacrest is the sexiest man alive.” –Contestant
And now for some real fakers. This is where I deviate from the order of the actual show, but I’m in control so deal with it. (Insert evil laugh here.)
The first faker could actually sing, and she was decent but probably not strong enough to win (thank you, Randy for being the only one to recognize that). Her problem wasn’t her voice though, she faked this whole obsession for Ryan Seacrest saying she will someday marry him before doing a chicken impression at her audition. Come on. My friends in high school were in the drama club; I can spot a ham when I see one. This girl was just goofing off to make sure she was on TV and her disingenuous style was just plain obnoxious. Save room for the real singers, people.
Our second faker came later in a lackluster montage of the baddies. Yeah that was some girl dressed as an eagle queen (maybe?) but the lady in the armadillo costume earned the brunt of my wrath (though this week, my wrath is more of an apathetic grumble than a roar). She gave her rejection interview in the suit which tells me she just wanted to show her friends at home that she could get Idol to broadcast a chick in a critter suit. NEXT.
The one benefit of all these fakers is that Randy finally got mean. I just wish he would have practiced some better insults on his way to Texas because, boy, was his commentary stale. I mean, “Is there a song called ‘Watch Me Leave?’” My six year old cousin has more creative insults than that. Step it up, dawg.
“Wow. Fucking great day. Shit.” –Steven
Apparently, profanity wasn’t part of the apology contract Steven made because by the end of the day, it was free flowing. He still lacked that inappropriate spark and he re-used his little pitchfork devil comment; WHAT is going on here? I’ll say it again, step up the creativity, judges.
After a charming little Texas pride montage we got into even more good contestants – where were all the baddies this week? After a few Hollywood bound folks got their tickets in rapid succession, we get another doctored cheesy back story. Oh joy. Jaqueline Dunford and Nick Fink are in love and they’re auditioning together. It seems Nick is perpetually stoked about it too, because that smile is permanently attached to his face. You’d think his face would get sore from all of that, but nope, he even kept it going as he sang “Sunday Morning.” Incredible. That’s commitment.
Nick sounded a bit like Michael Buble, but his range wasn’t that impressive; his girlfriend on the other hand, has some pretty good pipes. Of course they both go to Hollywood where they’ll compete with that couple from Nashville for who’s the most annoyingly cute pair.
After that schmooze fest, Janelle Arthur hit the audition room to prove the world wrong about “country folk” and to blow us all out of the water with “Syrup and Honey.” Though she could not manage to pronounce the word “syrup” correctly, she sang beautifully. Still, for the rest of the evening I was thinking over and over again to myself, “Sarap? Why would she say Sarap?” Maybe I’m just an ass. That’s probably the real issue here.
“Some people think I look like Seth Rogen. What do you think?” –Contestant
“Fraggle Rock.” –Cameraman
Casey Abrams was the final contestant of the evening, and I have to agree, he looks nothing like Seth Rogen. He’s got the hair, but come on, anyone can grow Seth Rogen hair. It’s called the unattended fro with a bushy beard. Despite his inability to look in a mirror, Casey can really sing. He’s got a soulful, robust voice that I just hope makes it all the way to the top 12 because it will be nice to see a real man up there instead of the Nickelback-sound-a-like Lee Dwyze from last year. I’m aware that America voted him in as the winner, but I don’t have to like it.
As this recap comes to a close, I’d like to commend Idol for not ending with yet another tear-jerker. It’s nice to feel a little upbeat when these episodes end. I actually had motivation to get up and accomplish things after last night’s auditions. Of course, that could have been because I was so bored watching them that I felt the need to escape as far away from the television as possible. Thank God there are only a few more audition episodes left; I’m ready for the competition and major cuts in Hollywood. Is it mean that I’m looking forward to seeing who gets sent packing? Maybe I can find some old reruns of The Weakest Link to tide me over for now. Goodbye.

Set in a whimsical version of the untamed West Range zeroes in on a quaint dairy farm called Patch of Heaven run by the kindly Pearl (voiced by Carole Cook). Life on the prairie farm is near perfect for its resident dairy cows--including the organized leader Mrs. Calloway (voiced by Judi Dench) the touchy-feely Grace (voiced by Jennifer Tilly) and the newcomer sassy show cow Maggie (voiced by Roseanne Barr)--as well as for the rest of Patch of Heaven's colorful denizens. Their idyllic existence is threatened when the farm is unexpectedly put up for auction to pay back taxes so the determined cows scheme to nab notorious castle rustler Alameda Slim (voiced by Randy Quaid) and turn him in for reward money which will pay off the taxes and save the farm. They set out on a high-spirited adventure across the rugged western landscape to catch Slim in the act. At the same time they also have to try to outsmart a hero-worshipping stallion named Buck (voiced by Cuba Gooding Jr.) who wants to catch Slim himself to get all the glory. Can Maggie Grace and Mrs. Calloway hogtie the dastardly villain hand him over to the authorities and collect the reward money in time to save their precious Patch of Heaven? Of course they can dagnabbit--they're cows aren't they?
However mundane Home on the Range is at least Disney has great casting sense. The three lead actresses seem to truly enjoy finding the bovine within. Roseanne who's been out of the spotlight for a while delivers Maggie's zingers with zest (referring to her udders Maggie quips "Yeah they're real. Quit staring") and as Maggie's cohort Tilly's naturally high squeaky voice lends credibility to Grace's new age-isms and non-confrontational ways. The real surprise comes from the Oscar-winning Dench who gives Mrs. Calloway that certain highbrow British sensibility while also allowing her to butt heads with Maggie every once in awhile. (One wonders though how a British cow made it to the Wild West?) In supporting roles Gooding hams it up as Buck a horse trying to prove he is a true hero with rather skewed methods while Quaid bullies torments and yes even yodels as Alameda Slim--yodeling being the bad guy's technique for hypnotizing and luring the cattle into his evil clutches. Standout vocal cameo goes to Steve Buscemi as a cold-hearted fast-talking city slicker (the bug-eyed character even looks a little like him).
Under Will Finn and John Sanford's direction Home on the Range has a heartening message of hearth and home decent performances and nothing blatantly wrong with the story structure which hits the right marks despite being a tad too cutesy. Then why is the film so lackluster? Maybe because just like last year's Brother Bear Range seems factory-made. The animation is certainly sub-par with flat colors and 2-D rudimentary drawings more suitable for a Disney theme-park ride. Last year's Teacher's Pet as well as most Japanime these days proves hand-drawn animation can--and better--go out on a limb if its to compete with the marvels of CGI but Disney seems stuck in a rut (and splitting with Pixar won't help matters). Luckily some catchy Western tunes help Range git along composed by Oscar winner Alan Menken who makes his first triumphant return to Disney since his '90s heyday that included composing music for The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. It also doesn't hurt that six original songs are performed by country greats including k.d. lang Bonnie Raitt and Tim McGraw.

Newcomer Norah Jones, whose album Come Away With Me has been touted by critics and fans alike since it was released last March, was weighted down with five miniature gramophones when she left Madison Square Garden last night after the 45th Annual Grammy Awards--and that's just her personal stash. The album and its producers and writers took three more.
The self-effacing musician, a mere 23 years old, took the honors humbly, visibly blown away by sharing the stage with some of music's all-time greats, including Aretha Franklin and Bonnie Raitt, who presented Jones with the record of the year award for the single "Don't Know Why."
"I can't believe this," a starstruck Jones said in her acceptance speech. "Bonnie Raitt and Aretha Franklin. This is freakin' me out."
In addition to the record of the year award for the single, Jones' debut album won the night's top prize, album of the year, presented by heavyweights Elvis Costello and Peter Gabriel. Jones also won for best new artist, best pop vocal album and best female pop vocal album.
New York, New York
Although Jones was the night's big winner, there's no question that the Big Apple crowd was behind Jersey boy Bruce Springsteen all the way. His passionate rendition of his nominated single "The Rising," written after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, brought the entire audience to its feet.
Even as the music industry acknowledged those who died in the attacks, there was a clear call for peace from several performers and presenters. Fred Durst, presenting the best hard rock performance award, prefaced the announcement by saying, "I just really hope we are in agreeance [sic] that this war should go away as soon as possible."
Raitt followed suit. "Enough about building a mystery," she said. "Let's build some peace."
Rocker Sheryl Crow, who took home a Grammy for best female rock performance, wore a large peace sign around her neck and, during her performance with Kid Rock, a guitar strap with "No War" written on it.
Fitting Tributes
As usual, the Grammys featured an "In Memoriam" segment, paying tribute to the stars the music industry has lost since the previous show. Members of boy band 'N Sync performed a medley of Bee Gees songs in honor of the Grammy Legend Award honorees, and when Robin and Barry Gibb received their award, they delivered a tearful tribute to their brother Maurice, who died in January. His son joined his uncles on stage for a brief speech.
Later, a highly anticipated tribute to Joe Strummer of The Clash, who died in December, brought Costello, Springsteen and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, now lead singer for the Foo Fighters, together for the first time. The trio, along with Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band, Tony Kanal of No Doubt and Pete Thomas of the Attractions (recently renamed the Imposters), growled their way through punk classic "London Calling."
A list of major Grammy Award winners follows:
Record of the Year
Norah Jones, "Don't Know Why"
Album of the Year
Norah Jones, Come Away With Me
Song of the Year
Norah Jones, "Don't Know Why"
Best New Artist
Norah Jones
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Norah Jones, "Don't Know Why"
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
John Mayer, "Your Body Is a Wonderland"
Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal
No Doubt, "Hey Baby"
Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
Santana &amp; Michelle Branch, "The Game of Love"
Best Pop Vocal Album
Norah Jones, Come Away With Me
Best Female Rock Vocal Performance
Sheryl Crow, "Steve McQueen"
Best Male Rock Vocal Performance
Bruce Springsteen, "The Rising"
Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal
Coldplay, "In My Place"
Best Rock Song
Bruce Springsteen, "The Rising"
Best Rock Album
Bruce Springsteen, The Rising
Best Alternative Rock Music Album
Coldplay, A Rush of Blood to the Head
Best Hard Rock Performance
Foo Fighters, "All My Life"
Best Metal Performance
Korn, "Here To Stay"
Best Female R&amp;B Vocal Performance
Mary J. Blige, "He Think I Don't Know"
Best Male R&amp;B Vocal Performance
Usher, "U Don't Have To Call"
Best R&amp;B Song
Erykah Badu featuring Common, "Love of My Life"
Best R&amp;B Album
India.Arie, Voyage to India
Best Female Rap Solo Performance
Missy Elliott, "Scream a.k.a. Itchin'"
Best Male Rap Solo Performance
Nelly, "Hot in Herre"
Best Rap Album
Eminem, The Eminem Show
Best Female Country Vocal Performance
Faith Hill, "Cry"
Best Male Country Vocal Performance
Johnny Cash, "Give My Love to Rose"
Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal
Dixie Chicks, "Long Time Gone"
Best Country Song
Alan Jackson, "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)"
Best Country Album
Dixie Chicks, Home

One thing The Country Bears has in its favor is that the film keeps the plot simple. A convoluted storyline in which bears and humans interact would only make this even more painful to watch. Set in a music-video-type format where the bears and the humans sing and dance and have a grand old time the movie focuses on 11-year-old Beary Barrington (voiced by Haley Joel Osment) a young lad growing up with a very loving--and very human--family. Yet something doesn't feel right to Beary. Maybe it's because his jealous older brother Dex (Eli Marienthal) keeps telling him he has been adopted. Or maybe it's because he is a bear. Whatever the reason Beary feels connected only when he is playing his guitar and worshipping a hugely successful '60s rock band called The Country Bears--a quartet of big hairy fellows with names like Tennessee O'Neal Ted and Fred Bedderhead and Zeb Zoober who broke up over "creative differences" many moons ago. Beary decides to head out into the wild beyond to look for his true heroes--and find his place in the world. What he discovers is that the old Country Bear Hall where those wily bears used to perform is going to be torn down by the evil Reed Thimple (Christopher Walken. Yes we just said Christopher Walken.) Beary can't let this happen so he comes up with the plan to find the ex-Bears get them back together for a benefit concert and save the venue. Yee-haw.
Everyone associated with this film (from the actors to the long string of cameos by real-life musicians) surely believed they were making a fun-filled romp for the kiddies. You know "something to take the whole family to see " but they may not have realized how incredibly inane it would turn out to be. Or maybe Disney called in a lot of favors. Walken could have just lost a bet. The point is this--the human cast simply serves a purpose as the framework for the bears. Megan Fay and Stephen Tobolowsky are Beary's sugary-sweet mom and dad. Diedrich Bader and Daryl Mitchell play bumbling police officers looking for the hairy little fellow. Only Marienthal's Dex recognizes the absurdity of the situation--Beary is a bear and Marienthal gets to say probably all three of the best lines in the film. Cameos by artists such as Bonnie Raitt Don Henley and Elton John are fun but don't add much to the fray. Meanwhile the vocal talents are notable only when real-life singers like Raitt and Henley (who "sing" a duet as Tennessee and lady bear Trixie) and country singer John Hiatt (also as Tennessee) get to perform. Haley Joel Osment as the voice of Beary is more animated than the young actor has ever had the chance to be onscreen but there may be a reason for that--Osment is annoying as a chipper guy.
Most of us know about Disney theme parks and their most popular attractions--the Haunted House the Pirates of the Caribbean and of course the Country Bear Jamboree. Now Disney has gotten the bright idea to turn these attractions into movies--cashing in on the familiarity--and those singing dancing bears are the first guinea pigs. In other words Disney is grasping at straws. Granted the film is intended for children but let's not insult their intelligence as well. Besides a bad script so-so puppetry and sappy original songs the most bothersome thing about The Country Bears is that the bears walk and talk like their human counterparts have jobs eat in restaurants and play in rock-and-roll bands but there are only about six of them altogether. There aren't any other bears around. Or any other animals for that reason. At least in a Muppet movie the Muppets are everywhere and so it's understood they simply co-exist with humans. If you were to meet one of these Country Bears on the street you'd be very afraid.

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Summary

Though in his later years he joked that he had become best known as singer Bonnie Raitt's father, John Raitt enjoyed his own long trajectory through stardom as the tall, robust baritone at the center of such beloved Broadway musicals such as"Carousel" and "The Pajama Game. "

Born Jan. 10, 1917, in Santa Ana, John Emmett Raitt excelled in track (enough to earn college scholarships) and his deep, resonant voice resulted in singing for Rotary Club luncheons and churches throughout Southern California. His professional debut came in 1940 as a chorus singer in "HMS Pinafore" with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, and he quickly became a well-known presence on the West Coast. With little operatic training, he sang lead roles in "The Barber of Seville" and "Carmen" at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, which led to a fateful meeting: In 1944 he was invited to New York to try out for the role of Curly in the road company of "Oklahoma!", rushed into an audition with Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers. Although there were concerns that at 6'2" Raitt was too tall, his melodic, powerful voice lanced him in the company.

Rodgers and Hammerstein had been working on their second collaboration, "Carousel," and chose Raitt for his star-making role as the doomed anti-hero Billy Bigelow, a cocky carnival barker who falls in love with and marries a factory worker in a New England fishing village, until their impoverished life drives him to attempt a robbery in which he is killed. The performer astounded the opening-night audience in 1945 with his dynamic "Soliloquy," Billy's meditation on his impending fatherhood written especially for Raitt, which he called "practically a one-act opera which took six and a half minutes to sing." Raitt brought a rough-hewn realism to the musical stage that anticipated the flawed, vulnerable characters played by Marlon Brando and James Dean, and his performance in "Carousel" was so memorable that he came to epitomize a distinctively modern breed of rugged, blue-collar Broadway leading man.

After the long run in "Carousel" he appeared in less-successful outings "Magdalena," "Three Wishes for Jamie" and "Carnival in Flanders." His star rose again in 1954 with "Pajama Game," by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, a musical comedy that explored the union doings of workers in a pajama factory in the Midwest with Raitt as a just-hired mill executive smitten with a union activist played in the original production by Janis Paige.

He got some movie work in the 1940's, appearing in "Flight Command" and "Billy the Kid," two vehicles for Robert Taylor, as well as a low-budget movie starring Benny Fields called "The Minstrel Man." But He lacked a big crossover to film until "The Pajama Game" became a successful 1957 movie with Raitt and Doris Day, choreographed by Bob Fosse. Despite his good notices, it was Raitt's only starring movie. Also in 1957 he played opposite Mary Martin in a television production of "Annie Get Your Gun." The show did not get very good reviews but Raitt's voice did.

Raitt remained a top musical star, touring with Mary Martin in "Annie Get Your Gun," and lead roles in "Destry Rides Again," "Man of La Mancha," "Kismet" and "Zorba" as well as "Oklahoma!" "Carousel" and "The Pajama Game." But by 1966 Raitt complained that there were few new stage roles for a commanding, romantic leading man and said new composers seemed to not have the musical talents of their predecessors. He played in summer stock from 1959 to 1984, keeping his fee moderate so theaters could afford him because he simply enjoyed the work. Indeed, his dedication for his vocation became clear in 1979, when a hurricane forced cancellation of "Man of La Mancha" in Hyannis, Mass., and Raitt sang "The Impossible Dream" to three busloads of disappointed theatergoers "so they wouldn't go back empty-handed."

Raitt's voice remained both sweet and powerful into his eighties and after his rocker daughter Bonnie became a sensation in pop music in the 1980s he collaborated with her on the road and in television specials, singing duets with her song "Blowing Away" and his "Hey, There." In his eighties, he continued touring with a one-man show, "An Evening with John Raitt."

Name

Role

Comments

David Raitt

Son

Steven Raitt

Son

Marjorie Haydock

Wife

first wife

Rosemary Lokey

Wife

engaged in 1940; Parents disapproved, they went on to marry others but were finally married October 2, 1981 until his death 2005